ALEX Salmond was last night under pressure to sack an SNP councillor who compared modern-day Scots to black slaves of the 19th century.

David Berry, a former leader of East Lothian Council and a Holyrood election candidate, claimed Scots were like England’s slaves who referred to their masters as “Massah”.

Mr Berry, who came within just 121 votes of unseating former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray in the May 2011 poll, also claimed Scotland was like an “abused wife” who needed a divorce.

To suggest the people of Scotland are slaves is insulting, not least to those who fought in two world wars to ensure we enjoy the freedom we do.

Patricia Ferguson, Scottish Labour’s constitutional spokeswoman

Last night party chiefs said there was no need to discipline Mr Berry for his remarks made on social networking site Twitter after he apologised.

But opposition politicians called on SNP leader Mr Salmond to axe him saying the “despicable” views represented the “ugly face of nationalism”.

They follow a series of controversial comments from nationalists.

Last year South of Scotland MSP Joan McAlpine provoked outrage when she compared Scotland’s relationship with the UK to a couple in an abusive relationship.

Just months later activist Tommy Ball was forced to quit the party after calling British soldiers in Afghanistan uneducated “child killers and racist thugs”. Patricia Ferguson, Scottish Labour’s constitutional spokeswoman, said: “The SNP should reflect whether Councillor Berry is fit to represent the party given these extreme views.

“And to suggest the people of Scotland are slaves is insulting, not least to those who fought in two world wars to ensure we enjoy the freedom we do.”

The row flared after Mr Berry responded to a tweet from the pro-UK Better Together campaign promoting leaflets quoting voters on why they believed Scotland should remain part of Britain.

“Do you have equivalent quotes from abused women saying why they don’t need a divorce or slaves happy on the plantation, Massah?” he wrote.

Jatin Haria, director of race equality charity CRER described the comments as “utterly appalling”. She added: “To compare the situation of Scotland and Scots with the plight of people who were chained and kidnapped from their families and homeland then sent on a ship and forced into slavery for the rest of their lives is outrageous.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie spoke of the “ugly face of nationalism” adding: “There is no place for crude comparisons to the slave trade in the debate on Scotland’s future in the UK.”

An SNP spokesman said Mr Berry’s withdrawal of the remarks and apology had drawn a line under the matter.